WEXFORD COUNTY, MI — Apparently, a Wexford County man thought he could get away with it this time.

State Department of Natural Resources conservation officers recently caught a man who shot a deer illegally. Officers say he had done the same thing twice before in the last six months.

Officers were tipped off about gunshots being fired near a Wexford County residence and they knew the resident already had been convicted of illegally taking deer.

At the scene, they found spent shell casings, blood, tracks and a dead deer behind the home. The suspect later confessed.

The illegal shooting is among the latest incidents among DNR conservation officer reports in West Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

Here is a sampling of the latest reports:

• CO Steve Converse received a complaint of gun shots coming from behind a residence in Wexford County. The residence was the home of a suspect recently convicted of illegally killing a deer. COs Converse and Sam Koscinski investigated the complaint
and with the aid of snowshoes were able to locate several spent shell casings, blood,
tracks and a dead deer behind the residence. A brief necropsy revealed that the deer
had been shot. The COs contacted the suspect at the residence and a confession was
attained. This subject has now been investigated and convicted of three illegally taken
deer incidents within a six month period.

• CO Brian Brosky received a Report-All-Poaching (RAP) complaint that a subject had
shot a deer from a residence. CO Brosky responded to the location and observed two
dead deer lying in the driveway. CO Brosky contacted the suspect who later admitted
to shooting both deer with a rifle. The CO also detected the odor of burnt marijuana
during the interview and the individual admitted to possession of marijuana. The rifle
and controlled substance, along with the deer, were seized and enforcement action was
taken.

• CO Marvin Gerlach located parts of an ice fishing shanty and an abundance of litter on a local lake. During the course of the investigation, CO Gerlach determined the litter
was left by three juveniles. They had built an ice shanty together and placed it on the
lake but failed to remove it before it froze in. They then cut the shack apart and left
parts of it and a large amount of litter on the ice. CO Gerlach also found out that the
boys had borrowed the money to purchase the materials for the shanty a few months
earlier but had failed to pay back their debt. CO Gerlach gave them the option paying
back the money, cleaning up the debris and garbage they left on the lake and also other
garbage in the area, or each receiving tickets for litter and for failing to place name and
address on the shanty. The young men chose the first option resulting in a cleaned up
lake, and hopefully a lesson learned about responsibility.

• CO Jeff Panich was on patrol in St. Ignace when he received information of a
snowmobile travelling from the island to the mainland by an operator who was
suspended from driving. CO Panich was able to quickly meet up with the snowmobile
coming over the ice bridge to St. Ignace. Upon contact, the man stated that since he
lives on the island he doesn’t need a driver’s license. The CO then advised the operator of the law pertaining to having a valid operator’s license to drive a snowmobile. The operator stated he was aware he needed a license but figured his chances of being caught were very small, as he has been driving without a license for many years and has never been caught. Enforcement action was taken.

• CO Greg Patten reported a recent guilty plea in Muskegon County Court by the owner of a captive cervid facility operator near Ravenna. CO Patten had investigated the
facility after it was determined deer had escaped through a damaged fence after a wind
storm in November. The operator was charged with failing to make the required
notification of escaped animals even after a local hunter had shot an ear tagged buck.